We had an employee (FE) who resigned over a year ago and left in good standing, to move with her DH across the state. We promoted someone (CE) to her position from within, and all has been well since.

All was well, but three of the other employees of the same level as FE have been campaigning for FE to get her job back, only problem is CE is in the position, and is doing a great job. CE used to work in my office and is a great guy. Now, FE is moving back to the area, and there is much clamoring (by the current staff) for FE to have a position made for her, which is certainly not in the plans or budget.

So, while this is not traditional PD, I still nominate FE for a "sour grapes" kind of PD.

What is even more ironic, the main person campaigning for FE did the exact same thing 8 years ago, and has lamented the loss of her seniority ever since!

Are you sure FE is aware of the clamoring? I only ask because I was in the FE position and I was highly irritated to find out that my replacement had been given all sorts of grief after I left and that someone even asked outright if management would please try to bring me back. And my replacement was doing a terrific job, probably better than I had!

Yes, FE is aware and only from her imparting information on a weekly basis to the cheering section do they know all the events involved.

FE sent a message to the cheering section, CE, my boss and the boss above her asking for notice should anything open up.

Please send them to accounting. I donít care that you were not told to. SEND THEM TO ACCOUNTING. I am not surprised that he embezzled from *MyCompany*. I am surprised that he was caught.Thank you for your help,*TempName*

I'm guessing that it was this exchange that darwin'd them. "I am not surprised that he embezzled from *MyCompany*"?

Really? They thought that Honcho would think that was appropriate?

And "I donít care that you were not told to." -Do what I say anyway based purely on my emphatic email and not on any higher ups say so?-

We had an employee (FE) who resigned over a year ago and left in good standing, to move with her DH across the state. We promoted someone (CE) to her position from within, and all has been well since.

All was well, but three of the other employees of the same level as FE have been campaigning for FE to get her job back, only problem is CE is in the position, and is doing a great job. CE used to work in my office and is a great guy. Now, FE is moving back to the area, and there is much clamoring (by the current staff) for FE to have a position made for her, which is certainly not in the plans or budget.

So, while this is not traditional PD, I still nominate FE for a "sour grapes" kind of PD.

What is even more ironic, the main person campaigning for FE did the exact same thing 8 years ago, and has lamented the loss of her seniority ever since!

Are you sure FE is aware of the clamoring? I only ask because I was in the FE position and I was highly irritated to find out that my replacement had been given all sorts of grief after I left and that someone even asked outright if management would please try to bring me back. And my replacement was doing a terrific job, probably better than I had!

Yes, FE is aware and only from her imparting information on a weekly basis to the cheering section do they know all the events involved.

FE sent a message to the cheering section, CE, my boss and the boss above her asking for notice should anything open up.

Well in that case FE's bridges are getting nice and toasty aren't they?

I had to do a sample demo promoting XYZ Foods today. But instead of working by myself, corporate + XYZ Foods decided to surprise me this morning with "Hi, I'm Tina from XYZ and I'll be your helper today." It went like this- "TeamBhakta, you should also buy Other XYZ products off the shelf for your demo. They're great!" "I'm only allowed to buy what corporate & XYZ requested." "Oh well, I'll do it if I want! I'll use my own money. I have XYZ money!" - She cut coupons out of the promotional brochures "because customers won't want to open the brochures anyway." I told her two different times that wasn't allowed and she said "I work for XYZ. I don't work for you. I can do whatever I want. I do this at every store I get sent to. Your boss can't do anything to me." - She insisted I didn't need to use a refrigerator, even though the health department required it for this product - She told a customer to take our coupons to another chain and badmouthed the store chain we were in, the prices, promotion, etc- She smelled horrible. I had to refrain from saying "hon, you smell of poop or something. Please go home, shower and change."

Oh yes, my boss, corporate and XYZ Foods will be hearing all about Tina.

I am nominating the student employee who didn't show up to work this afternoon, leaving me to cover the hour gap before the next shift arrives. This is his third no-show in as many weeks, and I am particularly upset.

After three and a half years of unemployment and illness, I haz a job! And I've been watching a possible PD situation unfold for a week...

If you have just been hired for a job you supposedly already know how to do, but have been told you need to do it the way your new employer does, read the instructions you have been given.

When you have been doing it the wrong way and are reminded to read the instructions, don't tell your new supervisor "Oh, I don't have time for that."

When you have been told to only ask your supervisor for advice/instructions, don't keep turning around and asking the coworker you've been specifically told not to ask.

When you've been doing something the wrong way and have to undo and re-do it, don't throw a minor temper tantrum and snap at said perfectly nice coworker.

Don't then lie about the cause and content of that temper tantrum. We're all in the same room. We saw everything.

Arguing with another coworker about something that Big Boss supposedly told a friend of yours eight years ago about [workplace]'s policies, insisting that your third-hand old information is correct and her first-hand recent information is wrong, is... um... worrying.

If you insist that you already know how to do absolutely everything the job entails and should therefore be paid more, completely stuffing up a very minor task that afternoon is a Bad Thing.

When your supervisor charitably decides that maybe your problem with written instructions is because you have poor English skills and don't want to admit it, and starts explaining them step by step because you have - once again - clearly not read them, don't tell her "Oh, I can read this, I'm just too lazy."

Telling yet another coworker that you hate doing [main job task] is... not a good look.

And remember that perfectly nice coworker you snapped at? She didn't even say anything back to you, so why are you now asking to change your hours around to avoid her? Seriously, if your minor dummy-spit at her over something you did wrong is so embarrassing that you can't stand to see her again, how long is it before you're going to be trying to avoid everyone?

I had to do a sample demo promoting XYZ Foods today. But instead of working by myself, corporate + XYZ Foods decided to surprise me this morning with "Hi, I'm Tina from XYZ and I'll be your helper today." It went like this- "TeamBhakta, you should also buy Other XYZ products off the shelf for your demo. They're great!" "I'm only allowed to buy what corporate & XYZ requested." "Oh well, I'll do it if I want! I'll use my own money. I have XYZ money!" - She cut coupons out of the promotional brochures "because customers won't want to open the brochures anyway." I told her two different times that wasn't allowed and she said "I work for XYZ. I don't work for you. I can do whatever I want. I do this at every store I get sent to. Your boss can't do anything to me." - She insisted I didn't need to use a refrigerator, even though the health department required it for this product - She told a customer to take our coupons to another chain and badmouthed the store chain we were in, the prices, promotion, etc- She smelled horrible. I had to refrain from saying "hon, you smell of poop or something. Please go home, shower and change."

Oh yes, my boss, corporate and XYZ Foods will be hearing all about Tina.

Oh, wow. The second-to-last line alone would be sufficient to torpedo Tina's job, if you ask me; everything else is just icing on the fail cake!

This is quite possibly the most rude thing I have ever heard, and I'm not sure it goes here but it seems to:

Big Boss invites several staff members (without spouses) to expensive restaurant as a thank you for a recent project. As Big Boss is settling the check and people are preparing to leave, the waiter comes out with several to-go orders that some of the staff members had placed, taking dinners home to their families.

And no, they weren't paying for them separately but expected big boss to cover it. When questioned, one of them replied "Well, I wasn't home to cook dinner and my family has to eat too!"

This is quite possibly the most rude thing I have ever heard, and I'm not sure it goes here but it seems to:

Big Boss invites several staff members (without spouses) to expensive restaurant as a thank you for a recent project. As Big Boss is settling the check and people are preparing to leave, the waiter comes out with several to-go orders that some of the staff members had placed, taking dinners home to their families.

And no, they weren't paying for them separately but expected big boss to cover it. When questioned, one of them replied "Well, I wasn't home to cook dinner and my family has to eat too!"

At my company, that would be PD. It's been the basis for a firing that I know of (lady was buying catering for the office, and adding a separate order to take home to her family) and has been suspected as the 'straw that broke the camel's back' in another one I know of.

I have a story of my own from my first "real" job. I was a secretary for a real estate company. One of the Big Bosses was leaving, and on his last day he decided to take out his "girls" for lunch. We all went in several cars to a restaurant that was fairly far from the office. I got a ride with one of the other secretaries. (The distance, plus the fact that I wasn't in my own car, becomes relevant.)

Big Boss started ordering drinks for everyone, and before long, he and most of the girls were rip-roaring drunk. I'd had one drink but nothing more, because back then it always made me sleepy and I needed my wits about me to do my afternoon's work. Well, 1:00 came and went, and no-one was making any mention of returning to the office. I asked the girl who'd driven me whether we should think about leaving soon; she just ignored me and kept drinking. 2:00 came and went, and by this time I was absolutely frantic, knowing that my boss was probably wondering where in Hades I was. (This was before the age of cell phones, so he had no way to get hold of me.) I kept asking if someone could drive me back to the office, and everyone just laughed and kept drinking. In retrospect, I should have ordered a taxi, but I was very poor and could barely make my rent. At the very least, I should have asked the restaurant if I could use their phone to call my boss. I was young and naÔve, and a lot of "coulda-woulda-shoulda" went through my head when it was too late!

FINALLY, at 3:00, I managed to convince the girl who'd driven me to drive me back. We returned at 3:30, and as I'd expected, my boss - and all the other bosses - were furious. Big Boss and the rest of the girls stayed behind and never returned that day.

Almost all of us got a severe talking-to, and the only reason why I didn't was that I'd actually come back, albeit very late. If Big Boss hadn't been leaving already, he probably would have been fired. As it was, he left under a cloud.

NearbyCity Council decided to do something about young unemployed people, the ones who are out of school (with diplomas or even university degrees) but can't get a foot in the door because they lack experience. Like me. So, the Council calls up local businesses, from shops to offices to factories, and makes them an offer: they'll take in a young person from their program and let them get a bit of experience, while the city will pay for everything, including the worker's wages. The local businesses agreed and yet the program is failing.

Why?

Well, the young, unemployed people don't like the jobs being offered and having to dress professionally.

The cases reported included:

- a girl who was supposed to work as a shop assistant in Brand X Shop. On her first day, the owner asked her not to wear clothes which obviously came from competing brands. The girl walked out and was never seen again.

- a guy left his office job because *shock and pearl-clutching* he'd have to work on Saturdays! And wear a tie! (For the record, in this country we have classes on Saturdays both in high school and university. Just saying.)

Reading the newspaper article made me so angry: I know there's two sides to every story, it's entirely possible they walked out for legitimate reasons, but I can't get over the fact they had a chance and they threw it away! Most of it, I admit it, is envy.

This is quite possibly the most rude thing I have ever heard, and I'm not sure it goes here but it seems to:

Big Boss invites several staff members (without spouses) to expensive restaurant as a thank you for a recent project. As Big Boss is settling the check and people are preparing to leave, the waiter comes out with several to-go orders that some of the staff members had placed, taking dinners home to their families.

And no, they weren't paying for them separately but expected big boss to cover it. When questioned, one of them replied "Well, I wasn't home to cook dinner and my family has to eat too!"

The nerve of some people never ceases to amaze me. i can see placing an order to go, IF you paid for it yourself. but sticking it on the bosses' tab is very unprofessional.

Company X is a big big company that sells clothes. Company Y is a competitor. Both companies clothing very clearly display their logo.

X calls in a contracting firm to to bid on millions of dollars worth of services. The sales team arrives, bringing along their chief smart person to help the sale. Chief Smart Person is decked out from head to toe in Company Y apparel.

Needlesstosay, the sale did not go through and the firm was told specifically why. The X executive specifically told them that they didn't really seem to take this seriously, so how could they be trusted with the work?

Way back in time, when the US Postal Service was not in financial straits, I read a news article in which a USPS official commented that, if a large corporation wished to formally correspond with the USPS about bidding on a project, sending the correspondence via a courier service might not be the way to make a good impression.